The World Saver
by mynewraptor
Summary: A failed experiment, dubbed prototype, is faced with the troubles of the war-mongering race from the stars. Does he have what it takes? Can he hold fast as everyone else around him falls? AU, prequel to Where Monster rise.
1. Chapter 1

The Experiment

The rain poured heavily as Tom Nelson started to cross the road. He was on his way to school, at Christchurch Boys' High, on what was a particularly wet Wednesday. Tom was a rather average boy in class, but was excelling in maths and science, and was very capable on the sports fields. Tom looked up from the work he was doing on his iPod and stepped forward. That was when an everyday, average boy, would be turned into the most ruthless and merciless killers any military has ever seen. As Tom walked across the road in front of his school, there was a loud horn blast, and Tom looked to his right. Tom realised too late that there was a bus about two feet away from his face. He froze, and then the bus hit him. It cracked several of his bones, fractured several more and caused serious internal bleeding. Tom fell to the ground in a limp heap, as the bus driver hopped out and ran to him. He yelled at people to call an ambulance, as he looked over Tom for any ID. Within several minutes an ambulance had arrived, and they were loading Tom onto a stretcher. The slammed the doors closed and the ambulance roared off. The bus driver sat there, dismayed at the events of the last few minutes. The paramedics worked on Tom as the ambulance darted around the soaking streets, and were constantly sending information to the hospital of Tom's condition. They pulled into the loading area of the hospital and swung the doors open. They wheeled Tom out and inside the hospital, while doctors and nurses scurried around trying to get all the equipment ready for the evident surgery. The doctors opened the doors for the room and wheeled the stretcher in. The head surgeon crashed through the doors, and asked the doctor for Tom's vital signs, to which the doctor replied

"Really, all I need to say is that he has a 13% chance of survival, and that this would be the perfect opportunity to test our new stem cell research, so it might pay to open the locker."

The surgeon looked at his friend and cocked his head, before turning and grabbing hold of the handle of the large metal door. He opened it and pulled out a test tube with a clear fluid inside, and handed it to the doctor. The doctor tapped it and inserted a syringe, extracting some fluid and then deposited the liquid in the microscope. He bent over and examined the platelets, splitting at an increased rate, before grabbing another test tube. He deposited the clear fluid into the heart lung machine, pressing several buttons, and stepped back.

"We are going to need a lot of patience to see if this works," said the doctor to no one in particular. He stepped out into the corridor, and turned to his friend. They looked at each other, before the surgeon said,

"Let's just hope we get something useful out of this, and that the boy gets to live,"

"Agreed. Let's go and get some lunch, I'm buying," said the surgeon with a laugh, "I have had a pretty packed day."

Two days had passed since Tom had been hit by the bus. He woke with a start, and looked over his body, finding it hard to believe he was alive.

_God I hate hospitals, _Tom thought to himself.

There was a faint, steady thump coming down the hallway. Tom listened closer, and recognised the beat of a marching soldier. Tom started to freak out, thinking that they were going to take him and do something to him. He quickly rolled over and stood. He ran across the polished floor, and opened the window. He slowly crawled out, before losing his footing on the thin ledge, and falling to the ground. He landed behind some bushes, preventing the guards from seeing him. Tom got into a crouch, before waiting for the driveway guards to look the other way. When they did, Tom sprinted across, and dropped off the plateau of the car park. He continued over the street, his white hospital robes flapping as he ran. He ran over to the nearby APA recruiting station, and slammed into the door. He stepped back, and rubbed nose, before pulling on the shiny metal handle. The receptionist looked up at Tom, then said in an uninterested manor,

"Are you here to sign up?"

"Yes."

The receptionist passed him a form and a pen. Tom took the form and filled it out. He did lie about his age, being four years under the required age, then handed the form back.

"go and sit over there, and the captain will come and get you for your interview."

Tom went over and sat in the corner, watching the door. After several minutes the captain, ashort, rather fat man came out and introduced himself,

"I'm Captain Sheridan, head of the New Zealand South Island recruitment agency. What's your name kid?" The captain asked.

"Tom, Tom Nelson, sir."

"Tom, come into my office so we can talk in some privacy."

The captain led Tom into his office, and closed the door. Tom took a seat in front of the captain's desk. The captain then stood behind his desk, looking at the recruiting form that Tom had filled out. He then turned around and looked out the window, then asked Tom,

"Why is a 14 year old boy sitting behind me, pretending to be 18, and trying to get into the military?"

"I just got hit by a bus two days ago, and now I'm running like an Olympian, and I know 'cause I just ran from the hospital." Tom replied

The captain looked him over, to him Tom looked like an ordinary boy, with no signs that he had been in surgery. The boy sat there, looking at his hands, and then the captain asked him

"Uh, look kid, just run off somewhere, we don't need you. And frankly I don't trust you. So just piss off and go back to school."

Tom sat there, then finally yelled,

"Look here, mister Captain, I don't want to go and sit behind some boring desk, doing some boring shit about how some fat Frenchman tried to conquer the known world. I want to fucking shoot shit, so give me a chance. Anyway, I got hit by a bus, and I walked away two days later!"

The Captain stared at the language coming from the young boys mouth.

_If he can hone that anger, maybe he could be of some use. _The Captain thought.

"So what do we call you?" The Captain asked.

Tom thought for a few seconds and then decided.

"I want to be called Prototype."

The captain looked at him and lifted up his omni-tool. He typed in a few commands, and then spoke into the comm in his ear.

"Get some scientists down here, I have something that might be of interest to them."

The captain then told Tom to come with him, as he walked out of his office. He went to the receptionist and told her that there would be several APA scientists arriving in about ten minutes. She nodded, and marked it down on her timetable. As the captain had said, three APA scientists and two marines walked into the building. The scientist in charge, a small man, with grey hair and a white lab coat walked into the captain's office. He came back out with the captain and asked him,

"So where is this thing we might be interested in?"

"Sitting down over here," replied the captain, pointing to where Tom was sitting, "he came barging in calling himself Prototype. Apparently he got hit by a bus two days ago, the woke up today. What do you think about it?"

"I can't tell what surgery they would have used. So this… Prototype didn't tell you what kind of surgery?"

"No."

"So, Prototype, what kind of surgery was it?"

"I actually don't know either. I got hit by a bus two days ago, but I have recovered fully. I think I might be a bit stronger than I used to be as well."

The scientist looked at him and turned to the others. They all had the same shocked looks on their faces too. He ordered the marines to grab Tom and bring him out to the shuttle. The marines did as they were ordered; grabbing and lifting Tom out of his seat, and walked him out to the shuttle. Tom stepped on first, then scientists, then finally the marines. The pilot closed the doors and powered up the eezo core, and they lifted up into the air, before lurching up into the sky. The shuttle was quiet as the scientists did tests on Tom with their omni-tools. Tom sat there looking out the window, and at the city below. The lights starting to come on, lighting up the streets below. Tom wondered what the life among the stars would be like. The shuttle left the atmosphere, before docking with the Luna station, alongside several dreadnoughts and cruisers. They all hopped off the shuttle, and walked down the metal platform. The marines led Tom off up a ladder, and into the APAD Xavier. They escorted him to the medical area, and then left. Tom sat there and looked up at the grey roof above him

_Well, no turning back now, I guess _he thought to himself before he fell asleep.

**AU: APA = American Pacific Alliance, APAD = American Pacific Alliance Dreadnought**

**So that is the end of the first chapter. Please review and give me any advice. I need all the help I can get. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

Hard Yards

Tom woke with a start, sucking in air heavily. He looked around, trying to get a bearing of where he was. It slowly dawned on him that he was in fact in the medical bay of an APA dreadnought, about to be tested to see what was going on with his new body. He lay there for a few minutes, and then heard the door on the far side of the room open. He rolled his head over and saw one of the medical officers come in, holding a datapad, before looking over at Tom.

"Ah good, your awake. The chief science officers want to come and have a look at you," said the medical officer

Tom rolled his head back to face the ceiling, then heard the door open again. Tom looked over and saw several scientists walk in. One ordered the medical officer out of the room, before turning to Tom. He pulled up his right arm, activating his omni-tool, and sweeping down his body. He considered the results then looked at Tom.

"So, Prototype, you say you got hit by a bus two days ago?"

"Yes," replied Tom, before he added, "I was hit right in the chest too."

The scientist looked at him, then typed something into his omni-tool. He looked at the readings. He stopped, before saying to Tom,

"You're not going to believe this. The readings I have here say that there is a micro-lattice structure in between the different layers of your skin and muscular tissue. It's also a very intricate hexagonal pattern."

"What do you mean by 'micro-lattice'?" Asked Tom,

"It's like a spider web woven between the different layers of skin. It makes it stronger, and also means that you heal faster too." The scientist replied.

He then motioned for the other scientist to follow him out of the room.

The scientist moved through the tight corridors of the Xavier. He got to the Captains' quarters and knocked. He waited, then heared a come in from the other side of the door. He pressed the pad, and it opened with a hiss. He stepped inside, and saw the captain putting an APA shirt on, and turned to him.

"Tell me you have something, Gene," she said,

"I have better. This … Prototype, he is ready for training. We found out what's going on with him, but I won't bore you with details. Essentially, he is a superhuman, his skin is like Kevlar. He heals 50 times faster than normal, and his muscular tissue is a super tensile protein. He also has far more flexible and much stronger bones. They seem to be made of some type of organic metal."

The captain stared at the scientist rambling in front of her. Her high school science brain struggling to keep up with what he was saying. The scientist looked at her and saw the blank look on her face and quickly summed up.

"He's indestructible and quite likely deadly."

"Thank you Gene. I will send out the order to get him on a shuttle to Titan."

With that the Captain dismissed the scientist, then turned and went back into her quarters. She pulled out the datapad with the information regarding Prototype.

_So his real name is Tom Nelson, but doesn't want to be called that. Interesting, he might be covering his tracks._

She opened up the medical comm channel, and spoke into the speaker,

"Prototype, could you please come to the Captains quarters, the med bay guards will escort you."

She sat back, waiting for the knock on the door.

Prototype stood in front of the door and knocked. He waited, then heard a soft rustle and then the hiss of the door open. Standing in the doorway was a small woman, with stocky limbs, and rather large hips.

"So are you Prototype? Please follow me," said the captain, walking into her quarters.

Prototype followed her inside, and stood there awkwardly beside the bed. She motioned for him to sit down. He did, and as he was the Captain asked,

"So, your real name is Tom, why call yourself Prototype?"

"I don't know," Prototype replied, "I just don't want to be called Tom. I want to be called Prototype, I don't want to be reminded of my old, boring life. So please just call me Prototype."

The Captain looked at him, and Prototype thought he saw something in her eyes, but it disappeared as fast as it had appeared. Prototype continued to sit there, waiting for the Captain to say something. Finally she opened her mouth, and asked Prototype,

"Do you know what kind of training you want to go through? We have several different training regimens, ones to suit any kind of ability. So I just want to ask you, are you a biotic?"

Prototype just shook his head.

"So you aren't a vanguard or an adept," said the Captain as she typed away on her omni-tool, "so do you have any ability with anything technological, like are you good at computer programs?"

Prototype thought for a moment, then he said, "I am pretty good with maths and I did have a laptop back on Earth."

The Captain nodded, typing some more on her omni-tool. She looked up again and asked Prototype, "are slightly more stealthy, like able to walk past people without them knowing?"

"I guess so," Prototype replied. He thought of all the times he had broken out of his room to go and explore the world around his house.

The Captain stood, and Prototype stood as well, and they walked out of the room to go to the shooting range on the third deck. Prototype took in his surroundings, noticing how grey the walls and floors were, and how little light there was. The door to the shooting range opened, flooding the hallway with light. Prototype followed the Captain inside, and looked up and down the range. His jaw dropped at the sight, at how long it was. The Captain looked at him and smiled, then went over to the weapons rack, and grabbed an assault rifle. She flicked the safety on then off again, checked if it had cooled down and handed it to Prototype. He looked over the weapon, then held the gun up and looked down the barrel. He moved over to the lane the Captain was standing in and waited for her to give him the signal. She did and he flicked of the safety and fired a short burst. The small group of projectiles hit the middle of the target, ripping the paper apart. He let it cool down slightly before firing another short burst. The ripped the target in half, the bottom floating to the floor. He looked over his shoulder at the Captain, who nodded and grabbed another weapon. She lifted up a small round looking object, which unfolded to reveal a long barrel, a scope and a large shoulder stock. He took the weapon, and felt the considerable weight difference compared to the assault rifle. He flicked off the safety and moved to a new lane. He brought the stock into his armpit, looked down the scope, and fired. He thought he broke the gun, for there was a slight thump, although not very loud. He looked at the gun, astonished, that he had actually shot the target. Right in the middle of the head was an inch wide hole. Prototype set the gun down, and looked over to where the Captain was sitting. She nodded and stood. She walked out and Prototype followed her. They stopped in front of the elevator, and the Captain turned to him, and said,

"I want you to go to deck 4, and go to the port side quarters. You are now stationed in bunk two, with Sargent Rights."

With that she saluted and turned into the elevator, and pressed the button. The doors closed and left Prototype waiting for the elevator to come back. The light turned green and the elevator opened. Prototype stepped in and punched the fourth floor button. He waited, and when the elevator stopped, stepped out. He walked to the port side quarters, then went and asked one of the officers where Sargent Rights was. He followed the man further back in the ship, and came to a little door. The man punched the button, and it slid open, revealing a reasonably small cabin. Prototype walked in and lay down on the unoccupied bed. He sat up when he heard the door open. Standing in front of him was a short, muscular man, with a shaved head and tattoos all over his body. Prototype gulped, the the man put out his hand and said in a surprisingly soft voice,

"I am Sargent Rights, I'm guessing that you are Prototype?"

Prototype took the Sargent's hand and shook it. Then stepped back and nodded. The Sargent looked at him, then smiled and said,

"Make yourself at home kid, there should be some clothes for you in those draws over there."

Prototype walked over to the far wall, and opened one of the draws, and pulled out a short sleeved shirt. He took off his old shirt, and slipped the new one on, which was tight fitting. He looked over his shoulder at the Sargent and went back to lie on his bed. Now his vision seemed clearer, his hearing sharper, and his other senses tingled. He stared at the roof, before the ship lurched. An announcement came over the ship wide comm channel,

"This is Captain Rita here, we have had orders from APA Command to prepare for a two week voyage to Proxima Sentauri, and to carry out tests for several space stations."

Prototype continued staring at the ceiling, then rolled over to face the wall, before falling asleep.

**So that ends the second chapter. Hope you like it, please review, and I'll be back with more. Have fun!**


	3. Chapter 3

Shock from the Stars

The APAD Xavier dropped out of FTL, and drifted slowly towards the nearest plant in the Proxima Sentauri system. As the drifted nearer, the ship started to shake slightly as it came into the planets gravity. Prototype looked out the port side observatory. He turned and walked back to his quarters, and opened up his log, and typed in a new entry,

_31__st__ of January, 2014, day one of exploration_

_We have just arrived at the first planet, and it seems to be an ordinary planet, forests and deserts with oceans in between. Can't wait till we land and do some tests on the soil and air, we might be able to live here. Humanity has finally gotten to the stars._

He sat there, then stood and left. We walked through the various corridors, then came to the elevator, and punched the button for the sixth deck. The door opened and he walked out. Several soldiers suiting up stopped and saluted, then turned and continued what they were doing. Prototype continued down the long, wide walk way to were Sargent Rights was standing talking to some men. As prototype came closer, the men moved off and the Sargent turned to Prototype.

"Proto, glad to see you. I hope you are ready for this. Command isn't always easy, but I think you're up to it."

Prototype stood, looking over at the twenty men assembled by the shuttles. He walked over and stood by one of the shuttles before turning to his men. They turned to him, waiting for him to speak.

"I don't know what we are going to see down there, but we have to be ready for anything. If we come across something hostile, we notify the scientists, and kill it. Make sure to retrieve the body, or bodies, so tests can be done," said Prototype. "We are here to do our job. And we will!"

The group of men roared, and jumped into the shuttles. The scientists hopped in, then prototype followed, shutting the door. The pilots fired up the drive cores, then the doors opened, revealing the vast gap between them and the planet. The shuttles shot forth. They hit the atmosphere of the planet, and began deceleration. They landed and the doors opened. The soldiers stepped out, then the scientists. A loud shot rang out, and one of the scientists' heads exploded. The soldiers clambered around. The scientists ran back into the shuttles. Prototype ran outside, his sniper rifle in hand. He looked down the scope. He saw nothing. A volley of slugs rained into the clearing, cutting several men down. One hit Prototype in the shoulder, deflecting of his shields. More and more volleys came, and more men fell. Soon Prototype was the only one left standing. He came out from behind the rock, pulling out his assault rifle. He aimed and shot, the short burst killing two of the lizard like creatures in front of him. Another jumped out from behind a tree, aiming a sniper rifle at him. Prototype fired a short burst, killing him as well. He walked over to examine the strange creatures. They were slightly thinner than a human, but slightly taller to. They had short, scale-like claws on their hands. Their faces were rounded, but had amphibious like features. They had pupils like slits, and also had clear eyelids for seeing under water. They looked like strange amphibious humans. Prototype saw something out of the corner of his eye. He lifted his gun. He saw another creature run towards him. Prototype fired, and knocked the creature down. He walked over to it, and brought up his omni-tool. He took a few readings, then shot the creature. They were in fact amphibious. He sent the readings to the Xavier's science department, and called for a shuttle. He didn't see the strange object fly out of the atmosphere behind him. The shuttle had another two creatures, on their way back to their home world. To tell their leader about Prototype. They disappeared out of the system, into the nearest system with a mysterious space station like construct, and continued all the way across the galaxy. Prototype waved the shuttle down, hopped on, then flew back to the Xavier. Little did he know that he had started the first ever assault on humanity from the stars. And so began the newest chapter in humanities excistance.

**Thought I might do a small chapter, get the ball rolling. Please review, and wait around for more ;) **


	4. Chapter 4

For Humanity

Prototypes shuttle landed back on the Xavier, Which was waiting just on the other side of the planets moon. Prototype opened the door, hopped out, and walked to Sargent rights.

"That didn't go as planned that's for sure," said the Sargent.

Prototype nodded in confirmation before looking around. He noticed that everyone was looking at monitors and datapads. Why, he didn't know, but everyone seemed edgy and hurried. People stopped and saluted, then continued on their way. Prototypes omni-tool beeped with a message from Captain Rita. He walked to the elevator and pressed the button for deck three. The doors hissed open, and prototype stepped out. He walked to the Captains quarters, opened the door, and waited for the Captain to acknowledge that he was there.

"What the fuck happened down there?" She asked without turning around.

"We landed, then one of the scientists' was shot, then they tried to suppress us back into the shuttles. I lost an entire squad for shits' sake!" Prototype replied heatedly.

Captain Rita turned around, with an amazed look on her face.

_So he's the one that puts his squad before himself, but is willing to use any resource at his disposal. Good, _thought captain Rita.

"So what was it that you ran into down there?" She asked prototype.

"I don't really know what they were." Prototype replied. "They were like amphibious humans almost."

The Captain stood there for a second, before walking over to the elevator. Prototype tagged along, hoping to find out where the Captain was going. Prototype stepped into the elevator as the Captain pressed the button for deck two. They waited, then the doors hissed open. Prototype stepped out and followed Captain Rita. They walked through the science department door. The head scientist put down his datapad, and looked at the two people in front of him.

"So what can you tell me about these… things, for lack of a better name?" The Captain asked.

"Well, they are definitely amphibious, and they are very human in structure. But, and it's a big but too, as human as they look on the outside, they couldn't be any more different on the inside. They have a backup; liver, stomach, two extra kidneys and an extra heart. Their muscular tissue is different to ours again; it is denser, and more designed for swimming. Their skin is much thicker too; the epidermis is almost three times thicker, and much less elastic. These Hunters, as we have called them, are designed for life on a largely water covered, or very humid, planet. They were probably thinking of looking at this system for garden worlds." The scientist replied.

Captain Rita looked at Prototype, who looked back and shrugged, completely bewildered. She looked back at the scientist, and without looking at him, asked Prototype,

"Did you have any trouble killing these things?"

"No, they die just like us."

"Good, so we can fight these things, what were they called again?" Captain Rita asked the scientist,

"Hunters,"

"So we have probably just angered an unknown threat. Hm, this isn't good at all."

"This has turned into a shit storm, a full fucking force, shit storm," said Prototype.

The Captain glanced over her shoulder, amazed by the colourful language coming from the soldiers' lips. She looked back at the scientist, before saluting, and walking out the door. She motioned for Prototype to follow her, and he did. They walked back to the elevator. As the doors closed she turned to Prototype, giving him an order.

"I want you to come to the CIC on deck one in half an hour, we will discuss what to do with these Hunters." The door opened at deck three, and the Captain strolled out. Prototype pressed the button for deck six, hoping to find Sargent Rights.

The doors hissed open and standing right there was Sargent Rights, in his military uniform. He turned and saw Prototype walking towards him. They quickly saluted each other, and then the Sargent walked Prototype over to a weapons rack. He turned to Prototype, then said to him,

"I am guessing you were issued with the standard APA Infantryman assault rifle. So let me allow you to get acquainted with some of the other weapons on offer."

He turned to the rack behind him and grabbed an assault rifle exactly like Prototypes.

"This is the M-1 Banshee, light, but powerful. It is issued to the standard Infantry."

He placed the weapon on the bench next to him, then grabbed a small box like construct. It unfolded into a single barrelled weapon with a large shoulder stock.

"This is the M-2 Phoenix. This is issued to those looking for a slower rate of fire, with a larger punch, and far better accuracy."

The Sargent placed it on the bench next to the Banshee. He then grabbed an elegantly curved weapon, with two short barrels, and a strange shoulder stock.

"This is the M-3 Kukri. It is far more dangerous than the Banshee, but slightly heavier. It is more accurate, fires more rounds, and has a bigger clip."

He placed it on the same bench, before reaching and grabbing another weapon. As soon as Prototype saw it, he loved in. The Large barrel, the scope sitting on top, even the same triangular shoulder stock as the Kukri. It just seemed to scream out to Prototype. He grabbed the weapon, looking it over.

"That you are holding there, is the best god damn weapon ever made. The M-4 Retaliator. Deadly at any range, with a high fire rate, a six times optical zoom scope, and a 55 shot clip. The most impressive weapon on the battlefield."

The Sargent grabbed the weapon off Prototype, before placing it on the bench too. He didn't bother with the last weapon, which Sargent Rights explained as the worst gun, in his opinion, the M-5 Knight Light Machinegun. Prototypes omni-tool beeped, warning him that he had to go to deck one. He said goodbye to Sargent Rights, then walked off to the elevator. He pressed the button for deck one, then waited. The elevator stopped on deck three, and Captain Rita walked in. She stood next to Prototype as the elevator slowly climbed up to deck one. The door slid open, and they stepped out together. Prototype followed Captain Rita into the CIC, and stood next to her at the table. The head scientist, the Chief Medical Officer, the Field General and the Flight Captain all walked in to the room as well. They took their positions around the table, and the scientist brought up a holographic display in the middle of the table. Everyone stared at the strange readings, as the scientist started to explain what they had discovered. The Field General and the Chief Medical Officer stood there, looking at the different readings, mouths agape. The Flight Captain asked a few questions, while Prototype and Captain Rita stood there watching them all. Finally everyone looked at Prototype, and the Field General asked him,

"You've fought against them already, what can you say?"

"They are smart, they were wary to attack us in the open. They die just like us though, and their armour and shields aren't very effective. One shot from a sniper punches right through all their defences. We don't know a lot, but that is how they were in small numbers. Bigger numbers might prove different. If we could maybe split them up into smaller groups, so that we can predict what they're going to do with more accuracy."

"So these Hunters aren't well defended, are smart and are amphibious. That is a different combination," the Field General wondered out loud.

"If we come across them in a swamp or an area with plenty of water, they will be very hard to kill. Their amphibious ability makes up for the lack of defences. We might have to draw them out onto dry land, somewhere with trees or rocks, and use guerrilla tactics to block them from the water." Prototype said, everyone taking note of his strategic brains. Then Captain Rita spoke,

"We need to warn APA Command, we need more ships than just the five we have now. We need to develop weapons, ones that can punch through the side of a ship easily. Get back to your stations now, and I will tell the crew that we are on our way back to Earth."

With that the Captain dismissed everyone, but before Prototype could leave, she stopped him.

"Meet me in my quarters in an hours' time, we need to discuss some issues."

With that she walked out, leaving Prototype in the room alone. He walked out the door, and waited for the elevator. When it arrived he stepped in and pressed the button for deck six again. He stepped out and walked to where Sargent Rights was standing.

"Ahhh, back to learn about more weapons are we?" Asked the Sargent.

Prototype nodded, then followed him back to the weapon racks. The Sargent stopped in front of another rack this time, and pointed to the X-2 Butcher that Prototype was already familiar with. Sargent Rights then grabbed another one. This one was smaller, sleeker. It had a laser below the slender, elongated barrel. It had the same triangular shoulder stock as the Retaliator and the Kukri, but this one was more integrated into the handle. The scope was slightly too large for the gun, but it added to the overall image.

"This is the X-1 Cleaver. It is a rapid fire sniper rifle, with a 10 shot clip. It isn't very good against shields though."

He put it on a bench behind him, then grabbed another weapon. This one was long, box-like, and very heavy looking. The gun unfolded, and only a barrel, shoulder stock and hand grip extended out.

"This is the X-3 Head Hunter. Heavy, powerful, twin shot clip, and an adjustable scope. This thing is a behemoth; it is hard to run through combat with. This is usually issued to security forces." The Sargent said as he turned the gun over, before placing it on the rack as well.

He grabbed the last gun on the rack, a strangely simple looking thing. It unfolded into what looked like a M1 Garand, but far more futuristic, and with a large scope on the top of the barrel.

"This is the X-4 Samurai, the deadliest weapon the APA has on offer. This is a single shot rifle, firing HiVAPP's, or High Velocity Armour Piercing Projectiles. This will smash right through a Hunters shields, armour, and head with a single shot. It is very light, which is a bonus too."

The Sargent placed this down on the bench. He spent the next half hour going over every single weapon, and explaining why they all have a different identification code, like assault rifles have M, snipers X, shotguns C, SMG's S, and side arms R. Finally the lecture finished, and Prototypes head was swimming with all the new information. He decided to go back to his quarters. He walked to elevator, pressed the button for deck three, and waited. When the doors opened, he walked at a brisk pace to his quarters, and opened the door. Once inside, he opened up his private terminal, and locked the door. He walked over to his clothes drawers, and undressed. He reached in and pulled out a pair of track pants, a grey t shirt, and a pair of military boots. He slipped into the clothes, before unlocking the door, and exiting. He walked to the port side observation area, and looked at the planet slowly receding into the distance. He looked out at the empty space around them, and realised just how isolated they were. They were alone. Two weeks away from the closest civilisation, and even then, they were still isolated, alone on their ball of rock. His omni-tool beeped, snapping him out of his thoughts. He slowly wandered towards the Captains quarters. He passed the mess hall, smelling whatever was cooking. He reached Captain Rita's quarters, knocked, then entered. There was little light in the small space, and most was provided by the holographic display on her desk. He stood there awkwardly, then moved further into the room. He looked around, and noticed the Captain asleep on her chair, mouth wide open. He walked over and tapped her on the shoulder, startling her. She reached out and grabbed his hand, and started to twist. Adrenaline took over, and Prototype reacted. He spun, lifted the Captain onto his back, before slamming her down onto the bed. The Captain lay there bewildered, then slowly rolled over and stood up. She looked at Prototype, shocked by the speed of his reaction, and sore from the landing.

"I guess I am lucky that you slammed me onto the bed then?" Captain Rita asked.

"Yeah, I didn't mean to do that sir, ma'am, shit" Prototype replied nervously, before asking, "what do I call you?"

"Call me sir, in front of everyone else, but in here, call me Chloe," she said with a smile.

Prototypes' cheeks flushed red, before he looked at the floor nervously. He looked back up, and he noticed how differently he saw the Captain. He noticed her small frame, and how wide her hips were. He noticed her shoulder length brown hair, which was like a frame for her face. Her face… it was rounded, with small, angular features, with a line of freckles across the bridge of her nose. And all these led to her eyes, bright green, with large eyelashes. Finally he forced himself to look at the rest of her body, his eyes lingering on her hips for a little longer. He looked directly above them at her breasts, and he realised that her shirt was a little bit too small for her. Her breasts were perky, not massive, but definitely not small. It all added up to look like someone who shouldn't be a soldier. She tapped his forehead, bringing him back to reality, startling him, sending his arms flailing. She looked at Prototype, studying his body as well. He wasn't a hulking mass of muscle, he was thinner than most. He had very tanned skin, almost brown. He was taller than her, but not by much. He had wider shoulders, thighs and large deltoids. He was incredible staunch too, he stood upright, with his head slightly forward. She wondered what his chest and abdomen looked like. She then looked up to his face, past the tensing and twitching neck. His jaw and chin were solid, angular and rugged, for his age. His light brown, almost ginger, hair was short and curly. His eyes were dark, emotionless, but not empty. He looked like something from a movie, muscular, with chiselled jaw and strong facial lines. She looked down at her omni-tool, and locked the door. Prototype gulped. He then opened his mouth, but before he could say anything Chloe moved in and kissed him on the lips. He stood for a while, taking in what had just happened. He finally asked the inevitable question,

"What about the age gap?"

"Stuff the age gap." Was Chloe's reply.

Prototype shrugged, moved towards her and kissed her again.

**Thought I might just leave it there. The next chapter will probably be a little more violent, as well as having more fluff. Thanks for reading and stay inspired XD**


	5. Chapter 5

Mobilizing the Fleets

_Prototype lay there. He stirred, and sat up, looking around. He was on the Xavier, but there was no crew. He heard a noise somewhere in the ship, and moved towards the source. He turned around the corner and saw a lump in the middle of the hallway. He inched towards it, trying to see what it was, when the lump jumped up. It revealed a Hunter. It reached towards him and grabbed him. Suddenly his vision was replaced with an image. The image showed a world of water and forests, with large winged creatures flying across the blue sky. There were Hunters living alongside the creatures, and living a tribal life. The image dissolved into another. The next image showed a world, covered in water, and cities. There were no creatures flying across the now grey sky. The Hunters wore expensive clothes, and had stern expressions on their faces. Then the image dissolved again, replaced but yet another image. This one showed a sky of red, with small space craft chasing each other. There were Hunters, and another strange race, avian looking, running and shooting on the ground. Buildings were on fire, and the water was black with blood from both species. The hunter let go of Prototype, and ran off into the ship._

Prototype woke with a start. He looked around the dark room for a light switch. As his mind slowly caught up he remembered he needed to use his omni-tool. He brought it up, bahing the cabin in a faint orange light. The lights flickered on, as there was a grumble from beside him. Prototype jumped as Chloe sat up as well. She looked around, obviously still half asleep. Her eyes adjusted, and she looked over to where Prototype used to be sitting. She could see his legs poking over the side of the bed, from when she had startled him. She chuckled quietly, the got out of bed, and walked around to Prototype. She looked down at him, and started laughing. He rolled onto his stomach and stood, trying to get past the laughing Captain. He then heard an incoming message from the Flight Lieutenant.

"Captain ETA to Earth is 30 minutes, and we are picking up strange signs. Seems to be several Dreadnought Class ships in orbit. You might want to come and check it out."

Chloe stopped laughing and walked over to her dresser. She grabbed out standard APA shirt and pants, and grabbed a pair of combat boots. She turned to Prototype, who was dressed in a APA training singlet, standard pants and boots. As she turned to leave, Prototype asked the Captain,

"Should I come too?"

"You can if you want, but there's nothing really needing your particular skills."

Prototype nodded, and said, "I'll be on deck seven if you need me Captain."

They saluted each other, and left. Chloe walked into the elevator, as Prototype walked to the mess. He walked in and saw Sargent Rights picking some food. He went and joined him, and just grabbed an apple. Sargent Rights looked at Prototype and asked him,

"So how's the Captain then, eh?"

Prototype looked at him, and the Sargent winked at him. Everyone else looked at Prototype, waiting for an answer.

"She's scary in the morning."

Sargent let out a slight chuckle, before walking over to a table. Prototype followed him, sitting on the opposite side, and munched on his apple. The Sargent looked at him, shook his head, and asked him,

"So how did you pull that off, you crazy motherfucker?"

"She just asked for me to go to her quarters, and then boom… Just like that, we were in bed together," Prototype replied.

"As they say, rather be in her than the Captains report. Looks like you got the best of both eh?"

Prototype laughed at the ridiculous Sargent, and finished off his apple. He started to leave, when the Sargent stopped him.

"Proto, why don't you come with me down to deck seven, I'll introduce you to the grunts."

"I was already on my way down there."

Sargent Rights nodded, and went back to his food. Prototype walked to the elevator, punched in deck seven, and waited. The doors finally opened, revealing the only other friends he had on the ship. Standing in a circle were Lieutenant Clarkson, Privates' Joe and Li, and Lieutenant Commander Ashford. They all turned at the sound of the elevator doors, and smiled when they saw Prototype walk in. He walked over, exchanging various handshakes, greetings and toothy grins. They all stood there in a group, talking and laughing.

Prototypes omni-tool beeped with a message from Chloe. He opened it, and saw that he was needed planet side. He stood from his bed, and walked to the elevator. He pressed the button for deck six and waited.

_Shit I'm getting sick of this elevator. I never really liked these things. _He thought to himself.

The doors finally opened, and he walked over to the shuttle being prepared for take-off. Sargent Rights walked up to the shuttle, and nodded at Prototype. Prototype stepped onto the shuttle, and the Sargent followed. They sat on opposite sides again. Prototype looked out of the window, as the shuttle pilot, Flight Lieutenant Burrows, stepped into the shuttle. He powered up the drive core, and the shuttle gave a slight shudder. The door shut, locking and sealing with a hiss. The shuttle shot forward towards the Earth, the APA Dreadnought docking station floating above the atmosphere, with several shuttles travelling backwards and forwards between it and the Earth. The shuttle then entered the atmosphere, and broke through the clouds. The shuttle flew over what looked to be San Francisco, and out over the Pacific Ocean. They continued over the Pacific for quarter of an hour, before reaching Tokyo. They shuttle began to decelerate, and descended to the APA Command Tower. The shuttle came to a rest on the roof, and Sargent Rights and Prototype stepped out into the cold wind, and walked across to the elevator door.

"Not another fucking elevator," Prototype said.

"What?" asked Sargent Rights.

"I have a bit of a thing with elevators"

"Oh"

The elevator opened and they walked in. They stood there, Prototype leaning against the side railing. The elevator opened, revealing Chloe and an old man with three stripes on his shoulders. He turned and looked at Prototype, and said to Chloe,

"So this is how you let your men stand in the company of a senior officer. What's your name and rank you lazy slob?" he asked Prototype.

"Prototype and I don't need a rank for shooting shit." He replied with distaste.

The old man looked at Prototype, and his face flushed as he turned and walked off briskly. Chloe looked at Prototype, astonished, as did Sargent Rights. They then all moved towards the main chamber. The doors were opened by two marines with their helmets on. The three walked into the middle, before the large platform the APA Heads of Command. They stopped, and waited for the Admiral to speak. He finally looked at Chloe, with a proud, and slightly protective look in his eyes. He asked her finally,

"So, Captain Rita, what is it that is so important, and why do you have these two with you?"

"We have discovered an unknown threat sir. The crew on the APAD Xavier have called them 'Hunters' and we have a request that you bolster the Naval Fleet, and possibly commission a second."

"Hmm, we might, and who are these with you?"

This is Sargent Rights, and this Prototype."

The Admirals eyes widened as he heard Prototypes name. He then turned to the Commanders, and they exchanged some words. He turned around again and said,

"Prototype, we would like to issue you with the Iron Hand Medal, for saving the scientists on planet exploration mission. And we have also promoted you to the rank of Commander, and have sent you several dossiers for a new… Personal… Squad for you."

Prototype stood there, then saluted, then went back to fidgeting. Sargent rights was also Promoted to Field Captain, and issued new quarters on the Xavier. The order for the bolstering of the Naval Fleet, now called the First Fleet, and the order was sent for the building and activation of the new fleet, dubbed the Second Fleet. The Xavier was commissioned to head the Second Fleet. The three left the main chamber, and walked down the hallway to the elevator. As they stepped in, Chloe pressed the button to the 123rd floor. The ride was extremely fast, taking only a few seconds, and the doors revealed the shuttle waiting for them on the roof. They walked out, hopped into the shuttle, and flew back to the Xavier, to oversee the Second Fleet.


	6. Chapter 6

First Contact

Prototype sat in the shuttle and looked out the window. He thought about his weird dream.

_Or was it a vision? What where those other things? Why are the Hunters attacking us? Why?_

His head was swimming with endless what-ifs, and he couldn't make sense of any of them. He slowly started to come back to the real world, brought back from his thoughts by something touching his shoulder. He turned his head and saw Chloe's hand on his shoulder. He reached up and grabbed her hand, holding it for a few seconds before asking,

"Do you think that we could make peace, or will one of us just be a forgotten race, consigned to the history books?"

Chloe cocked an eyebrow, before answering, "I hope that we can make peace, and then we could take to the stars as an alliance, and conquer any in our way."

Prototype nodded, and still holding Chloe's hand, went back to looking out the window. Prototype continued looking out the window, and saw a ship come into view. It was sleek, more flowing and futuristic. It had a sloping, chisel shaped hull, and two large wings sticking out the side, sloping down and back. It was quite a contrast from the boxier and bulkier Kyuseishu or Retter class Dreadnoughts. He continued to study the strange craft, and only started to come back to reality when the shuttle began to decelerate. Prototype stood, letting go of Chloe's hand, and waited for the door to open. When it did, Prototype was bathed in the bright light of the APA dry dock. He continued walking past the various ships being built and assembled, and into the upper docks, looking for the Xavier. It was docked next to a new ship, probably part of the new Second Fleet, with engineers climbing all over it. He looked at it for a little while, before being interrupted by a man walking towards him, who stopped next to where he was standing. He watched the ships for a little while, before asking Prototype,

"Who are you?"

"I'm Commander Prototype," he replied, "who are you?"

"Chief Foreman Duncan, and I have been instructed to oversee the building of the first commissioned ship in the Second Fleet, which just so happens to also be under your command now." CF Duncan replied with a wink.

Prototype finally turned his head to look at the CF. The CF pointed to the ship being constructed in front of them.

"It's going to be the most advanced ship we've got. It has brand new Disruptor Cannons, HiVAP Torpedoes, or High Velocity Armour Piercing Torpedoes, and state-of-the-art Cyclonic Barrier Technology, or CBT for short. It will probably end up with some new cannons we are testing too. Come with me and I'll show you the plans."

The CF led Prototype into the board room, and brought up a holographic display of a ship. It was a small ship, probably only a frigate, with curving elegant lines and a slightly less chiselled hull of the ship he saw before. This ship had a pointed nose, with small winglets sticking out and bending up from the sides. The hull was long, and easily five decks at its thickest, with the upper being the bridge. The CIC, med-bay and the lab were all on deck two. Engineering was on the third deck, and deck four was all the crew quarters. The final deck was the armoury and shuttle bay. The rockets were attached to rear wings, which were larger and more backward sloping than the front winglets. The outboard rockets, or directional rockets, were small and attached to swivelling mounts. The larger, FTL rockets were closer in to the body, and also controlled pitch. The Weapons were mounted onto the underside of the hull. It was hard for Prototype to believe that this was going to be his very own ship. The CF shut down the holographic display and finally asked Prototype,

"So what do you want to call her, Commander?"

Prototype stood there for a few seconds, before answering with a smile, "I think that Phoenix will do,"

The CF nodded, then brought up his omni-tool up and recorded it down. They shared idle conversation, before Prototype's omni-tool beeped with a message from Chloe. He said his goodbye, then left swiftly. He walked to the location Chloe had told him to go to, the large training hall in the middle of the facility, and opened the doors. He saw Chloe standing there with Sargent Rights and someone else.

"Who the hell is this?" Prototype asked before everyone turned around.

"I'm your pilot, Flight Captain Austin Heinz, sir," replied the short, fresh face man while he saluted. "I am also a hand-to-hand combat specialist."

Prototype cocked an eyebrow at the Flight Captain, then walked to the edge of the balcony. It overlooked a large room, several stories high, and about the same length and width as the Xavier. Just below them were several people, 18 to be exact, all sparring with one another. Prototype looked over all of them, but none seemed to stand out. Chloe handed him a datapad, with dossiers on all of the trainees below them. He looked over all of them, and again none stood out, except for the last one. Private Jorge Hoff was brought in just to round off the numbers. He wasn't particularly good with guns or tech, but was rated as one of the best biotic's amongst the APA. He was also a good tactician, scoring near 100 per cent in the entrance test.

_Impressive, I'm definitely having him on my squad, _Prototype thought.

He looked for other impressive files, and found another five, all with different abilities. Two biotic's, two tech specialists and two out and out soldiers. He stopped everyone and picked up the loud hailer, saying,

"Can Privates; Jorge Hoff, Jay Sueng, Jennifer Finlayson and James Anderson and Lieutenants; Pike Rose, and Joana Hernandez please see me up here in ten minutes sharp."

With that he turned and walked to the door, let the others out and went back to wait for the trainees. He sat there and looked out over the large room, then heard the door open behind him. He turned to see the six soldiers in front of him, all standing to attention.

"At ease," Prototype commanded, before saying, "I have you here because I think that you have the potential to be great soldiers, and so does APA Command. I have chosen you based more on your abilities, and less on your scores. I want to also lay down some rules when you are in my squad; you may call me Proto, but only if I let you. You are not allowed to wear combat armour or weapons on the ship. When you are on the battle field, always follow my orders, and only use powers when I tell you. You are not marines, period." He finished off his short speech by pointing at the trainees

They all stood there, then one stepped forward and saluted, and the others followed. Prototype then said to them,

"Meet me in the shooting range on deck three of the Xavier, the Dreadnought just outside, in two hours' time. Got it?"

Everyone in front of him nodded.

_Good,_ he thought,_ I can finally see what this group is made of. I'll just have to wait for proper hostile combat, but that shouldn't be a problem._

"Dismissed," Commanded Prototype, and they all saluted and left, leaving him to his thoughts.

_Well this will be interesting, _Prototype thought to himself as he walked out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

How About This for a Test

The doors to the Xavier's shooting range opened, revealing the group of trainees. There was an awkward silence in the room, as the soldiers sat together, playing around with some assault rifles. The rest sat apart, looking at each other, then looked at Prototype when he walked in. He looked over the group, then shook his head, before commanding,

"Fall in men."

The trainees all wandered over.

"ON THE DOUBLE!" Shouted Prototype, and they quickly formed a straight line. Prototype then addressed the group.

"Right, rule one is now when given an order, follow it to its entirety and as quickly as possible. Now, I don't expect many of you to be any good, but I'm in the mood for a surprise."

The group stood there, still attention, rather awkwardly. Prototype said to them,

"You guys are so awkward looking. Just relax, I don't want you all at attention, makes me feel like you guys are statues."

The trainees relax, the one of the soldiers finally asked,

"Shouldn't we introduce ourselves to the rest of the group Commander?"

Prototype nodded, the said to them,

"From my left, rank and name, and class."

The first person stepped forward, and said out loud,

"Hi, I'm Private James Anderson. I'm a biotic, Vanguard class."

The next trainee stepped forward, and she said,

"I'm Lieutenant Joana Hernandez, and I'm an Engineer."

The next person was a short Asian man,

"I'm Private Jay Sueng. I am Soldier class, sniper specialization."

And the next;

"I am Private Jorge Hoff," He said this with a heavy German accent, "I am a biotic, full adept."

Then a small woman, who looked a lot like Chloe stood forward.

"I'm Private Jennifer Finlayson. I'm a Soldier, grunt specialization."

The final trainee stepped forward. He was a tall man, and slightly lanky.

"I am Lieutenant Pike Rose, Heavy Infiltrator."

Prototype took note of all this. He then walked past them all, and over to one of the weapon racks. He grabbed six M-1 Banshees, and handed them out. He then said to the trainees,

"Right, this is the M-1 Banshee. It's what I trained with, for the brief period I did, and I am offering you one each. You can turn it down, for something else."

Joana and Jorge handed theirs back, opting out for other weapons. Prototype got the trainees with assault rifles to occupy a lane each, and empty one clip down the lane. He then walked over to Jorge and Joana. He stood in front of them, and asked Jorge,

"What Weapon Do you want?"

"I would like a shotgun," the German replied, then added, "And I want an R-6 T-Rex."

Prototype smiled. He walked over to the rack, grabbed a C-5 Metro, and a T-Rex sidearm. He handed them to Jorge and told him to empty one clip from each weapon down the lane. He also advised Jorge to move the target closer when firing with the shotgun. Jorge saluted, the marched off to one of the empty lanes. He then turned to Joana.

"So what are you after?"

"I don't really know." She replied.

Prototype just looked at her. He then turned and grabbed an S-3 Kaze, and an R-2 Panther. He handed them to her, and gave her the same instructions as Jorge. The other trainees, who had finished, where all looking at Prototype. They waited for him to give another order.

"Ok, fall out, but not you pike, you can stay right where you are."

Pike gulped.

"Ha, why so nervous, Pike?" Prototype asked rhetorically.

Pike gulped again.

"Right," Prototype said to him, "I want you to empty another clip down the lane. Now."

Pike turned and started shooting. Prototype watched his technique.

_Impressive, _Prototype thought, _He can actually shoot straight._

Prototype then started to turn to the rest of the group, but was stopped when his omni-tool beeped. He walked outside, and opened up a message from Chloe. It ordered him to bring a soldier, and go to the CIC on the Xavier. He burst through the doors of the shooting range, and grabbed Pike by the arm, and dragged him to the elevator.

"What's going on Commander?" Pike asked.

"Chl- Captain Rita wants me to bring someone with me to the CIC. What for, I don't know, but I think it's urgent." Prototype replied quickly.

He opened the elevator doors, and hammered the button for the top deck. The elevator seemed slow, and when it finally opened the CIC was alive with officials. He stepped out and looked around. He saw Chloe and several marines together. She dismissed the marines when Prototype came over.

"This is Lieutenant Pike Rose, Heavy Infiltrator. So what's going on?" Prototype asked.

"We've just lost contact with Pan Station, in the asteroid belt. We're sending in a small team to see what's going on. That's where you come in. Pike, you and I are going to go by stealth shuttle to the station, and see what's going on. Guess it was lucky that Pike is an Infiltrator."

Prototype nodded, then asked Chloe,

"So do they know why the station has gone dark?"

"No," Chloe replied.

Prototype turned to Pike and said to him,

"Come on, we're going to deck six."

Prototype left, with Pike in toe. As they waited for the elevator, Prototype asked Pike,

"What type of Armour do you use?"

"I like to use medium, mainly assault armour. But for this I might use light assault armour, works better for my tactical cloak." Pike replied.

Prototype nodded, then brought up his omni-tool and sent the armoury an order for one set of light assault armour, and one set of assassin light armour. The elevator door opened, and the two walked in. Prototype pressed the button for deck six. The elevator lurched, and slowly descended. When the doors opened, there was a loud siren, and red lights started flashing. People ran around, as Prototype and Pike walked to the armoury, while the automated warning message came online. Prototype got to the armoury, and grabbed the armour. He handed the grey and black assault armour to Pike, then placed the assassin breast plate on his chest. He pulled on the shoulder guards, greaves, and gauntlets, and grabbed his M-4 Retaliator, X-4 Samurai and his R-6 T-Rex. He grabbed a Banshee, X-2 Butcher and an H-707 grenade launcher for Pike. They walked over to the stealth shuttle, and waited for Chloe. The elevator opened, and she stepped out in medium assault armour. She grabbed a Metro shotgun, a Banshee, and a Kaze SMG. She wandered over to the two soldiers, and climbed in through the shuttles small door way. She sat at the back, while Pike and Prototype sat facing her. The pilot then climbed in, sealed the door, and sat down behind the controls. He fire up the drive core, and manoeuvred the shuttle towards the exit. The shuttle bay doors opened and the shuttle flew out. The pilot turned the shuttle to face the Earth, then slowly inched them forward.

"So where was the stations last known location?" Prototype asked the pilot.

"About ten kilometres away from we estimated it to be now. Either it's slowed down, or something is stopping it." The pilot replied.

"What's our ETA?" Chloe asked the pilot.

"Ten minutes. Engaging stealth drives now." The pilot replied.

There was a tense silence in the shuttle after that. Prototype looked out the window, while Pike looked his Butcher sniper rifle over, and Chloe played around on her omni-tool.

"There are four enemy ships entering the system at approximately 9.1 AU, two classed as cruisers, one frigate and a dreadnought. And there is apparently more on the way." Chloe said, and then added, "Worst of all is the dreadnought is big. 1.5 k's long, that thing must be extremely powerful. And there are three more dreadnoughts, smaller than the flag ship, and with two cruisers and a frigate each too."

_I hope the fleets can withstand that sort of power. There might not be a world to go back to. _Prototype thought to himself.

The station came into sight, floating next to a small asteroid, dwarfing the space rock. The pilot flew the shuttle into the open docking bay, and let the passengers out.

"Stay here until I tell you further." Chloe ordered.

The pilot nodded and shut the door, leaving the three alone. The red emergency lights cast a dim light, creating long, soft shadows. The three moved to the door at the far end, and Pike and Chloe took cover as Prototype started to hack the lock. The control panel flashed green, and the door silently slid open. The three moved into the hallway. Prototype closed the door behind them, and turned around. There was a bang, and a slug hit the wall next to him. He turned his head to its source, and quickly rolled to cover. The others moved into cover as Prototype pulled out his Retaliator, and looked down the scope at the Hunter at the end of the hallway. The Hunter stuck his head out again, and Prototype fired a four round burst. The slugs impacted the Hunters helmet, cracking the visor, and sprayed blood all through the back of it. Prototype stood from his position, and keeping his gun trained on the end of the hallway, moved forward. Pike stood, and pulled out his Butcher, and followed Prototype down the hallway. Chloe stood as well, shotgun in hand, and moved forward. Prototype stopped above the Hunters dead body, and bent down, bringing up his omni-tool.

"This one's female. She has a uterus." Prototype said.

Chloe looked at Prototype, and Pike stared at the dead Hunters missing head. Prototype stood again, and moved further forward. A door opened further down and two Hunters ran out. Prototype crouched behind a wall support, as Pike rolled into an alcove. Chloe started to move into cover, but one of the Hunters shot her in the upper arm with a sniper. She grunted as she fell, and crawled across the floor, into an alcove. She sat up, grabbed her SMG, and stuck her head out. She could see that another hunter had exited the side room, so she slid her back up the wall, and spun out of cover. She rushed towards the Hunters, firing her SMG at them as she went. She made several metres before a Hunter shot her in the head with an assault rifle. Her head exploded, splattering across the wall, and her headless body fell to the ground. Prototype looked at the body, surprised by his lack of feeling for her death. He lifted up his assault rifle, and fired two short bursts. One hit a Hunters shields, and the other skimmed the wall above another's head. He ducked back, just as a volley sprouted from the muzzle of one of the Hunters rifles. Suppressed, Prototype called for Pike to cover him. Pike did so, and pulled out his Banshee. He stood, and fired a long, sweeping burst across the Hunters. They ducked behind cover in time, their shields flashing as slugs bounced off them. Prototype moved forward, to the alcove opposite where Chloe's body lay, and took cover. One of the Hunters stood to shoot Prototype, but was cut down by a short burst from Pikes Banshee. Prototype then rolled out of cover and stood in the middle of the hallway. He lifted his gun up to his shoulder, and waited for one of the Hunters to pop out of cover. One did, and Prototype fired a short burst, exploding the Hunters head. The Hunters body slumped over, and the other jumped up to shoot as well. Prototype fired two shots, connecting with the Hunters head and forced it back, snapping the Hunters neck. Pike came out of cover, and saw the dead Hunters, and said,

"Good shooting Commander. Those bastards never stood a chance."

Prototype nodded, then continued further, checking the multiple doorways and corridors. He brought up his omni-tool, and scrolled through the multiple solutions, finding the last one to be the best.

"Right, we are going to the central chamber, and we are going to activate the nuclear reactor, and set it to explode. We will have five minutes to escape after that, so you better be ready to run." Prototype explained to Pike.

Pike nodded, and they continued further. Pike rounded a corner, and ran straight into a Hunter. The Hunter grabbed Pike by the neck, and lifted him into the air. Prototype came around the corner, and when he saw pike and the Hunter, activated his omni-tool blade. He ran at the Hunter, and cut his arm off at the elbow. Pike dropped to the ground, and the Hunter turned to Prototype, growling. Prototype readied himself, and ran at the Hunter. He slammed into the Hunter, slipping his blade in between its ribs. The Hunter gurgled, as purplish blue blood rose to his mouth. Prototype dropped the twitching body, and helped Pike up.

"Looks like we're even now," Pike said.

"I guess so. Come on, we don't have much time, I want to see this place burn." Prototype replied.

The two soldiers continued down the hallway, and came to a broken door. Prototype walked up to it, and pulled the metal slabs apart. Pike crawled through. Prototype then slipped through, letting the door open fully. They looked around the large chamber, and saw the control panel. Prototype ran forward, and Pike slowly backed away from the doorway. Prototype brought up his omni-tool, and activated the meltdown sequence. The two ran back through the door way, and through the winding corridors. They burst through the loading bay doors, and sprinted across the empty floor. Two hunter snipers came through the doorway, and started shooting at the two soldiers running away. A slug caught Pike in the back of his heel, making him scream in pain. Prototype grabbed him and dragged him to the shuttle, and threw him inside.

"What are you doing Commander?" Pike screamed.

"Go, get back to APA Command. Tell them the Hunters are here. I'm going to destroy their flag ship." Prototype yelled back.

Pike stood the best he could, and saluted.

"GO, GET OUT OF HERE. NOW!" Prototype yelled.

Pike shut the door, and the shuttle lifted up. It shot forward, and Prototype ran over to the supply shuttle in the corner, and hopped in. He activated the drive core, and fired up the drive rockets. The shuttle flew out, just as the Pan Station exploded. The asteroid next to it slowly drifted towards the shuttle, but Prototype activated the FTL drive, and disappeared. He brought up his omni-tool, and found the position of the Hunter flag ship.

_Still only 4.6 AU? I'm at 3.0 now, better drop out of FTL now._ Prototype thought.

Prototype deactivated the FTL drive, and braced for deceleration. The shuttle reappeared near the Hunter flag ship, and slowly drifted towards it, all system deactivated. Prototype pulled his breather helmet back on, and opened the port side cargo door. He saw a SMCU, or Space Movement Control Unit, and pulled it onto his back. He stepped up to the door, jumped out, and activated the HUD of the SMCU. He moved himself to face the Hunter flag ship, and activated the primary forward rockets. He shot forward, and slowly built up speed, as he gained on the Hunter flag ship. He came along side with in a few minutes, and he activated the primary brake rockets. He pulled the device off as he came up to the open fighter hanger. He pulled himself in, and dropped to the floor, looking up dramatically. He pulled his Retaliator off his back, and popped out the spent clip, replacing it with a fresh clip. He ducked down behind a fighter, and popped up to see what was going on. The Hunters were running, obviously unprepared for the intrusion. He stood, aimed at a Hunter, and fired a short burst. The Hunters head exploded, splattering another with blood, causing it to stop. Prototype aimed at the startled Hunter and fired. The six slugs slammed into the Hunters chest, making it sprawl across the floor into the wall. Prototype ducked as a short burst hit the fighter he was standing behind. Two armed Hunters stood in the doorway, each with what looked to be assault rifles. Prototype swung out of cover, and stood in front of the fighter. He aimed at the closer Hunter. The Hunters eyes widened as it realised that it was pretty much dead. Prototype pulled the trigger. The muzzle of the Retaliator flared up, as several white hot slivers of metal flew out at a sixteenth the speed of light. The slugs hit the Hunter in the chest and head, melting the armour and splitting its skin. Prototype aimed at the second hunter, and fired another short burst. The Hunter collapsed as the slugs hit it in the chest. Prototype moved through the now empty hanger, and opened the door. He walked into the dark hallway, and switched on his guns torch. He brought up his omni-tool, and rang a quick schematics check. The omni-tool then produced a holographic picture of the ship, showing Prototype the location of the drive core, and the best route to get there. He uploaded the route to his helmets HUD, and continued onwards, following the set route. He came around the corner, and shone his torch over two Hunters. They scrambled for their weapons, but Prototype shot them dead before they could reach the rack. He ran forward, and came across a door. He pressed the control panel, and it opened, revealing the engineering section of the deck. He walked forward, making sure to keep his weapon out. He walked through a small entrance way into a large chamber. And in the middle was the drive core. It hummed slightly, filling the chamber. He walked over to it, and brought up his omni-tool. He activated the right omni-blade, and swung at the drive core. The red blade slipped into the metal. Nothing happened. Then the drive core started to shake. A crack slowly started to appear in the side of its casing. Then the chamber filled with bright blue light, and a loud thud split the ship in two. Prototype screamed in pain from the intense heat. He then flew back from the massive shockwave produced by the explosion, and out into the cold vastness of space.


	8. Chapter 8

The New Era

Lieutenant Pike sat in the stealth shuttle, looking out the window, waiting for a message from APA Command. The shuttle seemed to be getting smaller. Pike sat there, and then his omni-tool beeped. He brought it up, and opened up the message from Fleet Admiral Douglas, saying,

To: Fleet Admiral Douglas, APA Official

From: Rear Admiral Yamoto

Subject: Prototype, and the Hunter threat

-Forward-

Douglas,

I have good and bad news. I'll start with the good news. The Hunter flag ship is over, I just watched it split in half, just like the Titanic. My engineers are searching the wreck now, and they believe it to be a drive core explosion. They don't know the cause yet, but they believe they are close to finding the cause.

But this is the bad news. We can't find Prototype. We have reason to believe that both Captain Rita and Prototype are either MIA or KIA. Please forward this message on to Lieutenant Pike Rose, I understand he was part of Commander Prototype's squad. If he, or you, have any idea of what happened and where Prototype may be, we would like to know.

Regards,

Rear Admiral Meiyo Yamoto.

Pike closed his eyes, then his omni-tool beeped again with another message from Fleet Admiral Douglas. This one said something different,

Pike, could you please come to APA Tokyo HQ, I have some business which involves you. It is about Prototype. We need to speak in private, so meet me in my office. It's on the 100th floor. Please be prompt, this is a matter of great importance.

Pike terminated the display, and said to the pilot,

"Guess what, we're going to APA Command in Tokyo. We better hurry too."

The pilot turned the shuttle towards Earth, and powered up the drive core further.

_He probably blew the drive core of that flag ship. God, even Prototype couldn't survive that much eezo exposure, and he's probably drifted off into space. Guess Douglas will want to know this. _Pike thought as he looked out the window.

The shuttle slowly descended towards the bright lights of Tokyo, the APA Command building standing out amongst the smaller buildings. The shuttle flew low, nearly skimming the buildings, then pulled up sharply, flying almost vertically to the top of The APA Command headquarters. People on the ground looked up at the sleek shuttle flying up the side of the building, marvelling at it, and its speed. One teenaged girl looked up at it with particular interest, longing to get off of Earth, her brown eyes glittering with the various lights around her. The shuttle came level with the landing pad, and the pilot lightly set her down. Pike opened the small hatch, greeted by Douglas and Admiral Villa, and escorted across to the elevator door. The door opened, and the walked in, turning to face the door. The door opened on the 100th floor and they stepped out. Douglas led the other two through winding hallways to his office, which had two large, tinted glass doors. Douglas opened them, letting the other two in, then shut them behind himself.

"So Pike, do you have any idea what must have happened?" Douglas asked.

"I've come up with two theories. The first is that he was responsible for the flag ship's drive core explosion, and was either incinerated in the blast, or died of eezo exposure. The second is that he did in fact survive the drive core destruction, but either lost his breather helmet, or it broke, causing him to suffocate." Pike replied.

"What makes you so sure that Prototype was on the flag ship?" Villa Asked with a Spanish accent.

"He told me that he was going aboard, and I watched him hop into a shuttle and fly there. It's pretty convincing, don't you think?" Pike replied.

Both the Admirals nodded. Douglas walked over to his desk, and sat behind it, activating his private terminal. He then said to Pike,

"Pike, sit down, I need you to help with the formal report."

Pike walked over to the free seat in front of Douglas' desk. He sat down and turned towards the two Admirals, positioning himself so he could look window. Douglas started to type on his terminal, while Villa looked up at the roof.

"Right, Pike, what should be the news statement?" Douglas asked.

"Hm, something along the lines of… 'Humanity has won a great victory today. The APA fleet faced the threat in the outer solar system, and crushed them, and will continue until peace is found.' No one knew of Prototype, so we can't exactly say anything about him." Pike replied.

"We could put something about remembering the dead in our prayers and thoughts. Maybe something about them living on in our hearts too?" Villa quickly added.

Douglas nodded, as his fingers flew over the keypad. He looked up, and then continued typing furiously. He finished finally, then looked up again, leaning back in his chair. He then asked the other two,

"So what will the official report be?"

"Well, we need to explain Captain Rita's death, and make up how Prototype died. This is gonna be a long one." Pike said with a smile.

The girl with the brown eyes walked into her parents' home. There was a smell of cooking rice and chicken, and the air was warm. She closed the front door, and walked into the main room. Her parents were watching the TV, and eating rice from a bowl, laughing every now and then. When she walked in her mother said,

"Ash, there is some food in the kitchen for you."

The girl nodded, walked past the kitchen, and into her room. She walked over to the bed and fell onto it. She rolled over and grabbed her cell phone, and checked for any messages. There was one from a friend, and this boy that liked her.

_Why can't that shit head leave me alone? I don't even want to know him._

She put her phone down, and rolled back over, and started to think of the shuttle she had seen, flying across the sky like a shooting star. She kept thinking of it until she started to drift off to sleep.

_Ash looked around. She could see the stars twinkling in the distance, and in the middle of it, there was a person. The person was male, maybe only just the same age as Ash, and was wearing a full combat suit. Her dream body slowly floated over to the boy, and as her face drew level with his, his eyes flashed open._


End file.
